Our third day in Canada started off much as the first. Opting out of breakfast due to time constraints, Brian shoved a small birthday cake ball each down the throats of our children as we prepared to check out of the hotel and meet Grandma and Grandpa Mac, who also happen to be visiting the city. Brian chimes in that it’s worth noting the cake balls were gourmet, from the Momofuku Milk Bar, and on Noah’s bucket list prior to the beginning of the trip. “Our only option to eat them was breakfast.”
After loading our luggage, we managed to also squeeze the 6 of us into our rental SUV for the 90 minute drive to the iconic Niagra Falls. Brian expertly navigated the roads, I faded in and out of consciousness, and Grandma, Grandpa, and the kids chatted it up.
On arrival to the falls the kids seemed amused with the large amounts of water thundering down, but instead of dropping their jaws in awe as we expected, they opted to pick some (very beautiful) dandelions for Mommy.
Noah was distracted by the “flowers” for Mommy.
After Brian negotiated our parking spot with an assist from the adjacent Niagara Falls Police Department, we were able to leisurely stroll to dock of the Niagara Hornblower Cruise and board our boat without difficulty. After donning our very elegant pink garbage bag ponchos, the whistle sounded, and we were off!
Family photo at the beginning of the Niagara cruise.
Emmie and Noah got increasingly excited as the boat neared the small water fall and handled the light mist from those falls like pros. The very wet approach to the large falls, however, found Emmie huddled, and on the edge of tears, on Grandpa’s lap. To escape the downpour, we went onto the lower level of the boat where Emmie informed us that she “did not like that water rain.” Noah used the cover as an opportunity to snap some photos without risking the lifespan of his camera.
The kids spent much of their time on the cruise with Grandpa and Grandma Mac.
Noah stays out of the heavy mist from the horseshoe waterfalls.
The next stop on the itinerary was a short drive to a small bakery called The Pie Plate, the first of a three-part lunch stop featuring pie, ice cream, and poutine. Grandparents Mac, Emmie, and Brian hopped out of the car to try a few items from the small bakery’s case, including single-serve coconut and chocolate cream pies and a raisin butter tart, which is labeled by Wikipedia as one of Canada’s quintessential desserts. Grandma Mac raved about the crust of her coconut cream pie, which Emmie had a hand in finishing. Brian was a fan of the butter tart and wishes we had more time to eat more such treats while in Canada.
The famed raisin butter tart.
While another butter tart destination wasn’t on the itinerary, in accordance with Brian’s zealous belief that vacation is an excuse to eat ice cream each and every day, the next stop was the Avondale Dairy Bar in the nearby town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Kids and adults universally enjoyed their dairy treats, with homemade varieties ordered including black cherry, salted caramel pecan pie, cotton candy, and maple pecan. The fact the business has been in operation since 1956 underscores the quality ice cream product.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.
Our final lunch stop was Smoke’s Poutinerie in St. Catherines! Grandma Mac stayed with Emmie in the car while the rest of us went in to try the famous Canadian dish for ourselves. The menu was a bit confusing, so we ended up with a huge portion of French fries topped with gravy, Quebec cheese curds, mushrooms, onions, bacon and sausage, plus two separate orders with gravy, cheese, and pulled pork. In the end, we appreciated the core combination of cheese curds, gravy, and fries, but found the extra toppings overwhelming and unnecessary, at least for a first poutine experience.
Amanda takes a bite from her giant poutine order.
Having caught some good naps during the car rides of our progressive lunch, the kids were ready for some fun and excitement! We headed to the African Lion Safari near the Toronto suburb of Hamilton. The park consists of a group of reserves where you can drive your own car, or take a bus, to observe lions, zebras, and many other wild animals first-hand.
Grandma and Grandpa opted out of this experience only to find there was no ability for them to enter the park gates without a paid admission. We literally dropped them off at the side of the road to fend for themselves while we embarked on our adventure.
Grandma and Grandpa Mac spent an hour somewhere near this sign.
Having read online reviews that warned against taking a rental car through the park due to some of the animals’ tendency to commit vehicle vandalism, we decided to pony up the extra cash to ride along for the official safari bus tour.
Emmie loved the baboons, enough to kiss them through the bus window.
We had the entire back 3/4 of the refurbished school bus to ourselves, which came in handy with Emmie’s tendency to hop from seat to seat. While we really enjoyed seeing the lions, giraffes, zebras, and buffalo, our favorite stop was the baboon reserve, where we were not only able to see a couple baboons climb on our bus, but also able to observe the naughty gang of monkeys in action, jumping on and trying to tear the antenna off of a family’s car.
Photo evidence of said monkeys. (A few monkeys had already left the car at this point.)
On conclusion of the bus tour we loaded back into our SUV, picked the Grandparents up off the side of the road, and then battled the stop and go Toronto freeway traffic back to our hotel. We exchanged goodbyes with Grandma and Grandpa Mac before making the short drive to the airport, where we would wait in a long line to get to the next stop on our trip: Iceland!
Noah’s Photo of the Day
Noah snapped this solid picture of Brian and I while riding the bus through African Lion Safari near Toronto.
Still thinking about that delicious coconut cream pie. We are anxious to read your adventures each day. Advice as always: be careful.
I love Emmie’s expression in the bus pictures! How cute!
Brian, I can’t believe you just dumped your parents off on the side of road. Glad you found them on your way back!
I am very impressed with Noah’s picture taking ability. Can’t wait to see things through his eyes as we get to view his pictures. 🙂 Have fun! Be safe!